"Shouldn't We Follow Orders? They Should Be Followed at Any Cost", a girl in her 20's said to me..
The New Obedience, the Old Danger
A young girl, in her twenties, asked me this the other day. Her tone firm—not aggressive, but convinced. We were discussing the unfolding India–Pakistan conflict, the wave of emotion online, and the voices of reason that were beginning to go silent.
“Shouldn’t we follow orders? They should be followed at any cost.”
This question is not innocent. It belongs to an era that we thought we had left behind. But it has returned, though wearing different clothes: memes, hashtags, studio debates, and forwarded messages—each of them like drops of morphine, slowly putting the public mind to sleep.
To follow orders "at any cost" is not a new idea. But it becomes urgent to question again when a society begins to echo it in unison. I was reminded of “A Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley. Wasn’t this exactly what the lady in the plot was scared of? The consequences of not following orders. Huxley knew very well the dangers of “following order at any cost.” That is the perfect recipe for disaster.
It has been observed time and again that most of the population sits comfortably without ever questioning the ones in power. Whether the civilians want a war or not, it always helps the overarching narrative to find an enemy in the ‘other’. Yes, the threat of extremist thought is high but that does not mean that everyone necessarily has to be an extremist. It is usual in such times that artists take a peaceful stand, knowing very well the future consequences. The masses hardly ever think about the future repercussions. They seldom give independent thought or reasonable thought a chance to come forth. Obey, follow the orders is the general trend.
My analysis is thus, most of us have always lived in a “follow the rule” kinda society. We were ruled by kings and companies who never cared for independent citizens. It is unfortunate that all this is amplified in today’s day and age. Although most of us live in democracies, we seldom know the true meaning of democracy. We are far away from “demos” and “kratos” - people’s rule.
Social media has amplified “follow the rule” to a certain extent. Our jobs and workspaces too have pushed this narrative further. We are always surrounded by people - online and offline, who like a certain ideology. It gives a certain sense of camaraderie when we have similar ideas, hobbies and ideals. Thus, we follow those endless cricket and baseball leagues with them, to stay in a constant state of conversation. We hardly speak of history, of rational politics, of uncomfortable truths, of ideas that are not common. And so, we are scared every single time when a new thought appears. The idea of peace thus comes up as a terrible solution. “Follow orders and support war” keeps us hooked to the herd around us.
The Psychological Climate of Conflict
Every time a nation enters a state of conflict—whether declared or undeclared—it creates a psychological climate. In that atmosphere, complexity becomes a crime. Nuance is treason. The simplest of statements—"both countries have suffered"—can provoke fury. Why? Because war, even before it is fought on borders, is fought in the minds of citizens. And for this war to take hold, it needs mass formation.
Mass formation, as Belgian psychologist Mattias Desmet has written, is not merely groupthink. It is the psychological intoxication of a population under the spell of a singular narrative. It arises when a society experiences chronic loneliness, lack of meaning, joblessness and free-floating anxiety—conditions we have in abundance today. Under such pressure, a population becomes susceptible to simplistic solutions and strong authority figures. And most dangerously, they begin to feel united in a sacred mission, often framed as moral, national, or existential.
Social media, in our time, has not just accelerated this process. It has perfected it. The news media and social media turns war into content. The TRP machine runs in full swing - generating fake imageries, bringing back old footages, pushing the narrative of war ahead by falsely stating the capture of cities, the fall of regimes. This all pushes the psychological warfare. Gods are revoked. They are added into the mix to give the war a mythological context. All this gives more adrenaline rush to a society, that has by now become heavily dependant on high levels of dopamine through social media.
War memes, vacation pictures, cricket throwbacks, philosophy are all shared by the same individual in the matter of minutes. This, while he/she lies in their sofa sets- never having to bear the consequences of war.
Digital Nationalism and Manufactured Consent
When I speak with young people in India today, I am struck by how their views of war and patriotism are not formed through lived experience but by algorithms. Each reel, each short, each viral soundbite acts like a sermon. The message is consistent: Dissent is betrayal. Obedience is virtue.
What we are witnessing is not an increase in knowledge, but a deepening of belief. The 20-year-old who asked about "following orders" has grown up in a decade where national identity was not discussed but performed. And performance demands clarity, not contradiction. The internet does not reward complexity. It punishes it.
This is not unique to India. But in a country as large, young, and digitally saturated as India, the consequences are magnified. A generation raised on social media is now the emotional infantry of a psychological war they do not even know they are a part of. Rather most wars of today are fought by the citizens on their screens. The brunt of war is only faced by the soldiers and civilians who have no other option than to defend or flee.
The Totalitarian Seduction
Desmet argues that totalitarianism is not sustained by cruelty but by a perverse sense of solidarity. People do not comply out of fear alone; they comply because they feel part of a larger, righteous struggle. In fact, as he often notes, the most enthusiastic supporters of a totalitarian regime are rarely coerced—they are volunteers.
In India today, we must ask: Are we volunteering for something we do not fully understand?
The call to "follow orders at any cost" seems noble to the speaker. It is uttered with the confidence of a moral high ground. But it reveals a deeper malaise: a readiness to surrender thought, a comfort in certainty, and a suspicion of the Other—whether that Other is across the border or across the dinner table.
And here lies the paradox: the louder the patriotic cries, the more fragile the society becomes. Because when truth becomes secondary to cohesion, a society loses its ability to correct itself. We, within India have been pushed to the point of break by the leaders. To keep their ship of power afloat, they have not cared to pit the populace on religious lines.
Pakistan is worse. It has thrived on military dictatorship. Every single rational voice across the border, was quietened by its military generals. Less spoken the better.
Breaking the Spell
Desmet offers no easy solutions. Neither do I. But perhaps we can begin by pausing when such questions arise. Instead of answering the young woman immediately, we might ask her:
Who is giving the order?
What is the cost? Who suffers?
And most importantly—what part of you is so desperate for certainty that you’d rather obey than understand?
The tragedy of modern conflicts is not just the lives lost, but the minds surrendered. A population can survive war. But can it survive the loss of truth, trust, and thought?
As Desmet writes, the first step out of mass formation is the courage to speak. Not to convince, but to bear witness. To disrupt the chorus with a single note of doubt.
So let us bear witness. I surely am.
Even if softly, even if alone.
See you soon
Ash
“The Strength of a civilization is not measured by its ability to fight wars, but rather by its ability to prevent them.”
―Gene Roddenberry
Hi everyone, I am an independent writer. In the past years, I have chosen to live a simple life in a quiet corner of India - away from the hustle and bustle of the machine. I now work with the village community to bring employment, to educate young kids and to liven up a degrading village.
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